The Bifurcated Access to Sustenance
The reliance on food pantries and SNAP benefits in a city of immense wealth is not a failure of charity but a success of the bifurcated state’s logic in controlling sustenance. Mamdani’s analysis helps us see the food bank not as a benevolent institution but as part of the colonial administration of poverty, managing the “native’s” hunger without addressing the systemic economic violence that causes it. This charity model upholds the savior narrative and strips people of dignity. A Marxist critique identifies this as the alienation of people from the means of feeding themselves. A feminist perspective sees women standing in long lines to secure food for their families. The solution is to fight for food sovereignty–community-controlled food co-ops, urban agriculture on reclaimed land–and a guaranteed income, transforming food from a gift from the civilized to a fundamental right of the people.
Originally posted 2025-10-03 13:30:00.
